Mahindra today announced the winners of the inaugural edition of ‘Mahindra Rise Sustainability Champion Awards’. This Mahindra Automotive initiative is instituted to recognise young and rising change makers who have showcased extraordinary commitment to inspire change for a better future. A first-of-its-kind recognition by the Indian auto industry, the Award identifies emerging sustainability icons in the field of Clean Air, Clean Energy, Green Mobility and Clean Water.

By recognising and showcasing their success stories, Mahindra’s aim is to catalyse concerted action on the sustainability front and inspire more people to rise for the larger good. The Award followed a simple three-step procedure, which included, pre-screening and identification of the final four winners by eminent jury members – Mr. Madhav Pai of WRI India, Mr Mukund Vasudevan of Moglix, Ms. Vinuta Gopal from Asar Social Impact Advisors and Dr. Bhaskar Natarajan from AEEE.

The four winners announced were:

  • Mr. Apurva Bhandari – Founder, SankalpTaru.
  • Mr. Simarpreet Singh – Founder, Hartek Solar
  • Ms. Nikita Lalwani – Founder & CEO, CroozeApp
  • Ms. Garvita Gulhati – Founder & CEO, Why Waste?

The awards were given in the 4 categories of Clean Air, Clean Energy, Green Mobility and Clean Water respectively.

To further support the winners to strengthen their contribution to India’s net-zero mission the proceeds from the auction of one-of-its-kind, All-Electric XUV400 will be equally distributed among them. This Exclusive edition has been designed in collaboration with young, revolutionary fashion designer, Rimzim Dadu and Mahindra’s Chief Design Officer Pratap Bose.

Veejay Nakra, CEO, Auto Sector, Mahindra Group said, “The role played by the younger generation to help India attain its net zero goals is inspirational. The Mahindra Rise Sustainability Champion Award’ is our way of recognising and encouraging this dedicated movement towards sustainability. It is in line with our core philosophy of ‘Rise’ – to be an organisation that will be counted among the best in the world and at the same time rise for our planet to fight against climate change. We congratulate all the winners and finalists for being active role models for all of us to follow and we would also like to thank all the eminent jury members in helping us identify the achievers in this space.”